Ephigy Guitars #2 – Dayton Ohio Luthier – Koa and Walnut Power Strat

A buddy of mine asked for a “Les Paul in Strat Clothing.” He plays the blues and loves the feel of a Strat but loves the buttery, warm sound of a bluesy Gibson. This was to be the second guitar under the Ephigy guitars moniker, designed to his playing style and featuring many unique features,

Body: The body is made from several pieces of specialty hardwood. The top is a single piece of Koa – the shape was carved by hand (no CNC here) and hand sprayed clear nitrocellulose finish. The back is a grain-matched set locally grown walnut. The back isn’t book-matched but the asymetrical grain gives a very cool look. The body is fully chambered to relieve the weight of the hardwood as well as giving fantastic tone.

Neck: The neck and headstock ate made of 3 pieces of birds-eye maple glued with parallel grain. The neck is mounted with a Les Paul style 4 degree neck angle and a 1.5 degree pickup angle. This is significantly different from a o degree Fender neck/pickup angle. This neck is super-sturdy and has a bright sound you rarely get from a mahogany neck, combined with the Koa body this guitar unique brightness and crunch sound. Headstock is Ephigy guitars original design and features a 9 degree headstock angle. The fretboard had inlays already installed although all leveling, radius and fretwork was done in my shop.

Electronics: Guitar features a set of Seymour Duncan Phat Cat wide – single coil pickups. Controls are standard Gibson style Volume/Volume & Tone/Tone but has a special 6 way pickup selector to enable a variety of unique sounds.

If you have questions, ideas or would like a quote for guitar building, modifying or repair please feel free to email me any time with the contact form on the sidebar. I will gladly quote full builds or simple repairs and mods. I’m here to help so lets go!